Loom with stationary weft supplies



Oct. 7, 1941. c. CLUTSOM I LOOM WITH STATIONARY WEFT SUPPLIES Filed- April 29, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY,

Oct. 7, 1941. c. CLUTSOMV 2,258,538

LOOM WITH STATIONARY WEFT SUPPLIES Filed April 29, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 WVEA/m/e,

r Patented Oct. 7, 1941 umrso STATES; PATENT OFFICE f 4 1 Charles Olntsom, nfiza fizmf Application April 29, 1940, Serial No. 332,357 In Great Britain May 10, 1939 Claims.

This invention relates to looms with stationary weft supplies, 1. e. shuttleless looms with weft supplies which are stationary as regards insertion of the weft, for weaving smallware, for example elastic and inelastic or so-called rigid webs and like narrow pieces such as ribbons and braids in continuous length, as well as for weaving wider elastic fabrics, e. g. .upwards of 12 inches or more in width, for manufacture subsequently into garments such as corsets, corselettes, belts, girdles and like'foundation garments, and rigid pieces forother purposes.

The present invention is applicable to shuttleless looms of the kind which include a weft laying member or members consisting of a thread guide or guides adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed or sheds of warps, and a knitting needle or needles adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying member or members to ensure laying of the .thread toand fro through the shed or sheds and to form a knitted y) 1 Figure 1 is a plan view of a unit or attachment selvedge or selvedges. Y I

In this connection the invention isintended for application principally to, and has for an aim improvements in, looms of the general form described in the specification of my prior United States Letters Patent No. 2,130,636. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not necessarily limited in this respect, since it may advantageously be embodied in any other appropriate form of shuttleless loom of the kind concerned. e

The invention comprises improvements the object of which is to facilitate the formation of a knitted selvedge or selvedges during the-production of woven fabric on a shuttleless loom.

According to the invention there is provided, in or for a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member for the purpose aforesaid, a bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying member and to form a knitted selvedge, and a presser member or part additional to and independent of the weft laying member for pressing and thereby closing the beard of said knitting needle at appropriate times during operation thereof.

The improved combination is therefore distinguished from a previously proposed arrangement according to which a weft laying member is itself utilised to effect closure of the beard of a bearded knitting needle.

Advantageously the needle is inserted in a stem-like carrier bar, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and in this respect the expres-- sion bearded knitting needle" wherever employed in the following further description and in the appended claims is intended to refer both to the needle and the carrier bar, where the context so admits.

'It is mainly the intention to operate the weft laying member and the co-operating bearded knitting needle in such a way that loops formed by successive pairs of inserted wefts are interknitted to form a selvedge as weaving proceeds. The invention is, however, also applicable for use in conjunction with an arrangement wherein an additional thread is supplied. to the bearded knitting needle and thereby interknitted with the weft to make a fast selvedge, in a manner similar to that in which an additional thread is supplied to the latch needle shown in Figure 9 accompanying the specification of my co-pending United States, application No. 241,278, United States Patent No. 2,229,011.

In the accompanying drawings,

incorporating the aforesaid pivoted weft laying member, the reciprocatory bearded knitting needle and one form ,of the presser member,

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the same as seen in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1.

' beard closed,

Figure 4 is a detail part sectional view taken on the line IV--IV of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is an end view as viewed in the direction of the arrow B in Figure 1,

Figures 6-9 are diagrammatic views illustrat ing successive stages in the operation of the bearded knitting needle and the presser member, an

. Figures 10 aind 11' are detail side and plan views respectively of an arrangement embodying a modified form of presser member as will be hereinafter described.

Like parts are designated by similar reference characters throughout the drawings.

The units or attachments illustrated each include aweft laying member I and a bearded knitted needle 2 which are mounted for movement upon a common bracket or support 3 adapted to be removably applied to a loom. In Figure 2 the unit or attachment is represented as being secured to the top of a longitudinal frame member 4 of a loom. The weft laying member I is in the form of a thread guide which is formed integrally with a substantially radial 2 panacea pins or equivalent between which the rear end 5 of the arm 5 is located, as fully described in my prior specification No. 2,130,636 aforesaid. The needle 2 is furnished with a depressabie spring beard 2a the point of which is adapted, when the beard is depressed, to enter a recess or g-rove 2b formed in the nedle stem. The needle is attached to a carrier bar 1 slidably mounted for reciprocation between two plates 8 and 9 which together constitute a guide for the bar. The said bar is provided with an operating stud I0 by means of which the needle can be reciprocated, e. g. from a cam-actuated rockshaft through intermediate connections such as those indicated at H and I2 in Figure 2. A cam I3 is provided so that whenever the needle 2'is advanced to engage thread presented to it by the weft laying member I, the needle is deflected upwards and such engagement is thereby made certain as the result of contact between the bar I and said cam. The

latter is formed on a part l4 disposed beneath the carrier bar I. A blade spring l5 arranged as shown is provided to ensure that the bearded knitting needle returns to its normal level upon retraction, and a similar spring l6 serves to maintain the bar I in contact with the part M. The

weft supplied to the member I is indicated ate and said member and the needle 2 are located on opposite sides of the path of the warps b. The curved portion of the member I can therefore carry weft to and fro through a shed c (Figure 2) formed in the usual manner. The needle 2' works alongside the path of the warps. A slotted guide I! is provided for constraining the fabric d -(Figure 1) as it is woven to maintain a definite path in the region of the fell; any other suitable means may, however, be provided for this pu p I The unit or attachment shown in Figures .1-9

includes a presser member [8 in the form of a small and comparatively light flat plate or finger which is disposed above the needle board 241 and pivotally mounted at is on an upstanding lug 20 provided onthe bar I. As will be seen more clearly in Figure 5, the needle 2 is in-' ,clined somewhat so that its hook 2e lie in a plane which is obliquely disposed with respect to the plate 8. Thisis to facilitate the insertion of the weft into the hook 2c, and the presser member I8 is disposed in the same plane as said hook so as to be located directly above and permanently adjacent to the board 2a. Nevertheless, the member l8-despite its slight obliquitycan be regarded as being substantially in a vertical plane and consequently nearly at right angles to the plane of movement of the weft laying member I. The lower edge of the presser member, is formed with a downwardly disposed pointed or like formation such as In for cooperation with the beard 2a. This formation rests upon the beard, and accordingly whenever the latter is open-as it normally is due to its inherently resilient characterit serves yieldingly to support the presser member la in its raised, 1. e. inoperative, position as shown in each of Figures 2, 4, 6, '7 and 9. The arrangement is, however, such that by forcibly efiecting downward deflection of the presser member IS on or about its pivot, that is to say in the direction of the arrow C .(Figures 3 and 8), it will act to depress and thereby close the spring heard.

Now the timing of the parts must be such. broadly speaking, that. whenever the knitting needle 2 is advanced the presser member 18 is inoperative, being supported in this position by the open heard, but that at an appropriate stage of each withdrawal of the needle from its advanced position the presser member is deflected downwardly so as to press upon and close the beard. It is convenient to arrange the presser member for operation as a direct result of movement of the needle 2 so that said member operates in proper timed relation with the needle. Thus, in the particular example now being described, the.presser member is formed with a vertically disposed, upstanding protuberance Nb of pointed form adapted to be engaged at'appropriate times by a stationary stud 2| or the like. This stud is located in the path of the presser member and at its outer end is shaped as represented more clearly in Figure 4. A carrier element 22 serves to support the stud 2|,said element being secured to a bar 23 which is in turn attached to the guide plate 9 by means of screws 24. These screws may serve also to attach the plate 9 to the bracket or support 3. The bar 23 is slotted as at 25 to enable it to be adjusted longitudinally, and provision in the form of a screw and slot connection 28, 21 is made whereby the carrier element 22 can be adjusted vertically. The construction so far described is such that upon the carrier bar I being'withdrawn from its most advanced position to the position indicated in Figure 3, the protuberance I81 is brought into contact with the stud 2| and pressed forwardly against the inherent resilience of the spring beard 2a; consequently the presser member is deflected downwards to an extent sufficient to effect closure of the beard. At all such times as the protuberance |8b is clear of the stud 2|, however, the heard is open and functions to support the presser member l8. Whenever the needle 2 is advanced from its rearmost position, the protuberance l8b in passing the stud 2| makes contact therewith but the only result of this is to effect a purely idle upward movement of the member I 8. From. a consideration of Figure 4 it will be seen that the underside of the presser member is curved somewhat immediately below the protuberance l8b so as to permit of the required deflection. Downwardmovement of said member is limited by reason of the straight edge portion I thereof coming flat into contact with the top of the needle carrier bar 1.-

The precise timing and operation of the parts are preferably such as will now be described with reference more particularly to Figures 6-9. Assume first of all that the weft laying member l is right back, that isto say at the end of a reverse stroke, and the knitting needle 2 is in its fully withdrawn position with a loop {of weft thread in its hook 2c. The needle 2 is now advanced with its heard 20 open during a customary beating up action on inserted picks of weft such as e (Figure 1). Towards the end of this movement a further pick of weft is carried forward stroke of the member I, the thread a is guided onto the needle 2 by the inclined forward edge of the presser member l8 and is,

pulled between the latter and the beard 211 so that it engages the needle stem. At the stage represented in Figure 6 the needle is fully advanced with the old loop I on its stem and the weft thread 0. extending across the latter below the point of the beard 2a. During initial reverse movement of the .weft laying member i, the

needle 2 remains stationa y so that the thread it is pulled into the needle hook 2c as shown in Figure 7. At the next stage the knitting needle.

2 is withdrawn in the direction of the arrow D to such an extent as to effect closure of the beard In by deflection of the member l8, and accordingly the old loop I is landed onto the beard as represented in Figure 8. Withdrawal of the needle continues without interruption, whereupon the engaged portion of the thread a,previo'us1y positioned in the hook to, is formed into a new loop a and drawn through the old loop I which latter is thereupon cast of! the needle as shown in Figure 9. The formation of the loop and the casting-of! of the old loop 1 is facilitated by the forward edge of the plate 8 which constitutes a knocking-over edge. The needle is then advanced again and the sequence ofoperations just described are repeated, and so on. The weft laying member I remains for a short period after presenting thread to the knitting needle.

According to a modification an appropriately shaped cam slot, groove or guideway may be formed in cro the presser member for reception of or engagement with a stationary part or member. e. g. a pin or stud, provided on a part of or on the bracket or support. Alternatively, a pin, stud or projection provided on the presser member may be adapted for engagement in or with a similarly shaped slot, groove or guideway formed in or on a relatively stationary plate or like part attached to said bracket or support. In the example illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, a pivoted presser plate or lever 28 having a cam slot 28a formed therein co-operates with a-fixed pin or stud 29 which is carried by a part 88. The plate or lever 28 is mounted on a lug 8| provided on the needle carrier bar 1, and the pin or stud 20 projects through the slot 28a. The arrangement is such that upon reciprocation of the carrier bar I the presser plate or lever 28 moves positively first in one direction and then in the reverse direction to close and release the spring beard 2a, in the manner required. This is in contra-distinction to the first described example wherein the presser member is actuated positively in one direction and in the other direction under the spring influence of the beard. The timing of the parts in the example just described is similar to that adopted in respect of the parts in the first described example.

Although it is preferred to carry the invention into practice in the form of a unit or attachment, the weft laying member I, needle 2 and associated parts may be separately mounted.

The arrangements specifically described herein are adapted for producing a fabric with a single weft locking selvedge on the appropriate edge. A beard presser member or part of the character described may, however, be provided in conjunction with each of two bearded knitting needles co-operating with the same weft laying member but on opposite sides of the path of the warps so that a knitted selvedge is formed on each edge of the fabric, and a similar arrangement or arrangements may be provided in conjunction with one or more bearded needles co-operating with a pair of weft laying members to produce doublefaced fabric with a locking selvedge or selvedges.

- upon another, or side-by side,

of the warps for engagement with one or each of the weft threads. When the bearded needle or each of such needles engages only one of the threads to form it into loops the other thread is engaged but cast off without being formed into loops so that it passes around the loops of .the other thread.- Thus, the thread which is not to be formed into loops is laid or brought behind or below the beard of the needle so that it is cast of! as aforesaid. If desired, however, both of the weft threads may be engaged and formed into loops by the needle so that both threads'are interknitted to form a locking selvedge. The needle may be curved or inclined to enable this to be done. Preferably, however, a separate finger or like part, e. g. formed, arranged and operated as described in the specification of my prior United States Letters Patent No. 3,103,636, may be provided in association with the needle or each needle and suitably operated so as to push or pull the appropriate thread (that is to say the thread which is fed out of the plane of the needle) into such a position that it will be drawn intothe needle hook along with the other thread. The said weft laying members may be supplied with threads of different characteristics or/and colours, e. g. silk or artificial silk or cotton or wool, and these are laid through a double shed of corresponding dissimilar warps thereby producing a corespondingly double-faced fabric, such, for example, as one with a silk or art silk front and a cotton or wool back.

Any convenient number of units or sets of mechanism including one or'more weft laying members, one or more bearded knitting needles and corresponding beard pressing members or parts constructed, arranged and adapted for use according to the present invention, may be provided in one loom for weaving several or numerous pieces of fabric face to face, e. g. one

according to requirements. i

As will be understood from the foregoing description, the expression "weft is to be regarded as covering either a single weft thread or a plurality-of such threads where the context so admits.

What I claim then is:

1. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member consisting of a thread guide adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying member and to form a knitted selvedge, and a movable presser member which is additional to and operative independently of any action of the weft laying member for pressing and" thereby closing the beard of the knitting needle at appropriate times, said presser member being arranged for movement in a plane substantially at right angles to the plane of movement of said weft laying member.

2. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member movable presser member which is additional to and operative independently of said weft laying member for pressing and thereby closing the beard of the knitting needle at appropriate times,

' said presser member being mounted so as to be permanently located in contact with the beard.

3. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member consisting of a thread guide adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying member and to form a knitted selvedge, a bar serving to carry said knitting needle, and a presser member which is movably mounted upon said bar and adapted, independently of any action of the weft laying member, to press upon and thereby close the beard of the needle at appropriate times.

4. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member ber and to form a knitted selvedge, a movable presser member which has formed therein an appropriately shaped cam slot and is arranged for action upon the beard of the knitting needle at appropriate times, and a fixed stud adapted for engagement in said slot whereby'during operation of said knitting needle the presser member is moved positively first in one direction and then in the reverse direction to close and release the needle beard in the manner required.

8. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member consisting of a thread guide adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a reciprocatory bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying member and to form a knitted selvedge,

consisting of a thread guide adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a reciprocatory bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunctipnwith the weft to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a reciprocatory bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying member and to form 'a-knitted selvedge, a movable presser member which is mounted so as to be normally supported and held in its inoperative position by the needle beard, said member being adapted to press upon and thereby close said beard at appropriate times, and means for eflfecting deflection of the presser member for the purpose of closing the beard upon withdrawal of the knitting needle from an advanced position. a

6. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member consisting of a thread guide adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying-member and to form a knitted selvedge, a movable presser member which is formed with an approa presser which is additional to and operative independently of said weft laying member for pressing and thereby closing the beard of the knitting needle at appropriate times, and means for effecting deflection of the knitting needle on the forward strokes whereby certain engagement I of the weft with said needle is secured.

9. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member consisting of a thread guide adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a reciprocatory bearded knitting needle disposed alongside the path of the warps and adapted to engage the weft presented by the weft laying member and to knit a selvedge, a presser member which is pivotally mounted upon the needle so as to be permanently located adjacent to the beard thereof, and a fixed part adapted for co-operation with said presser member suchwise as to impart an operative movement thereto for the purpose of pressing upon and closing the beard at such times as the knitting needle is withdrawn from an advanced position.

10. In a weaving loom, in combination, a pivoted weft laying member having a curved forward portion and adapted to operate to carry weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a bearded knitting needle arranged at the side of the warps opposite from that at which the weft laying member is pivoted and in such a way that it extends in the same direction as said warps, a bar which serves to carry the needle and is slidably mounted, said bar being provided with a part whereby it can be reciprocated to operate the needle in conjunction with the weft priately shaped cam formation and arranged for action upon the beard of the knitting needle at appropriate times, and a relatively fixed part adapted for engagement with the aforesaid cam formation whereby during operation of said knitting needle the presser member is moved positively first in one direction and then in the reverse direction to close and release the needle heard in the manner required. j

'7. In a weaving loom with a stationary weft supply, in combination, a weft laying member consisting of a thread guide adapted to operate to carry the weft to and fro through a shed of warps, a bearded knitting needle adapted to operate in conjunction with the weft laying memlaying member to ensure laying of the weft to and fro through the shed and to form a knitted selvedge, a movable presser member which is pivotally mounted upon the needle carrier bar so as to be located adjacent to the beard of the knitting needle, a fixed part arranged in the path of the presser member and adapted to effect deflection thereof for the purpose of closing the beard upon withdrawal of the knitting needle from an advanced position, a cam for effecting deflection of the needle on the forward strokes for supporting fabric adjacent to the fell while being woven.

CHARLES CLUTSOM. 

